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Category: Gaming News

One of the most popular shooters on the market today is likely about to get even more popular in the very near future. We’ve long known the PC exclusive was coming to the Xbox One as part of that platform’s game preview program. Now it appears Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds is going to be going mobile as well. Don’t get too excited yet, unless you happen to live in mainland china. Tencent announced on Monday that the game would be getting a mobile port, but that mobile port is only going to be available in the communist country.

The game in the United States has long been developed and handled by Bluehole Studios. Last week Tencent announced it had acquired the rights to the game for the Chinese market. Instead of bringing it over there in some new kind of console port, it is going for something that is playable on the Android and iOS platforms. Tencent also announced, according to Dualshockers that it would be making a few modifications here and there in order to have a better reception in the Chinese market.

The real question about this news is whether or not North American and European players will eventually be able to get their hands on the mobile version of PuBG. It seems as though there would be one heck of a market for Android and iOS in the states and Great Britain. Because Tencent is taking over development of that mobile version, there is not telling whether or not there can ever even be a kind of version of what Chinese gamers are about to get offered.

It seems as though bringing PuBG to the mobile platforms all over the world would only be a good thing. At the same time, it’s possible Bluehole understands there is such as thing as overexposure. There is also the little issue that the game still hasn’t been officially released on any platform. While it’s expected to be released as version 1.0 by the end of 2018 on PC, there isn’t an official date yet.

There was a time when Nintendo was staying as far away as it possibly could from the mobile gaming market. It appears those days are now over. Nintendo is not only putting out mobile games, but those games are having massive success at launch and beyond. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a spinoff of the full version of Animal Crossing.

Now that this mobile game has launched, it has ended up being the second most successful mobile game launch of all time for Nintendo. While that sounds like a really, really impressive number, we should point out that there really haven’t been that many mobile games coming from Nintendo at all. The good news is that while the pool might be small, there has clearly been a demand for this game.

According to Gamingbolt, this mobile version of Animal Crossing has seen more than 15 million installs worldwide in the first six days since launch. Those numbers are almost twice what Nintendo saw with the launch of Fire Emblem Heroes. That game had a pretty successful launch but only saw eight million installs in the first six days it was on the market. The only game that has actually done better for Nintendo on the mobile platform is Super Mario Run.

The company broke into the mobile platform in a very big way, having more than 32 million installations when the game first hit the market for the iOS and Android devices. The one problem for Nintendo is that Super Mario Run might have had a ton of downloads, but those downloads didn’t really transfer over into people paying money to unlock the whole game.

Fire Emblem Heroes, according to Nintendo’s own book keeping actually led to much better revenues, despite having about a fourth of the downloads and installs. It’s far too early to see if Animal Cross: Pocket Camp is going to do all that well when it comes to revenues, but its off to a good start.

This Holiday season the conversation may mostly be revolving around the surprising success of the Nintendo Switch, but don’t be fooled — there are still other consoles in town. The PS4 has been quietly churning out extremely good sales figures over the past financial quarter with reports stating that the company shipped nearly 67.4 million units over the fiscal year. In the past quarter alone Sony has sold nearly 4.2 million units, up by nearly 300,000 sales from the prior year during the same time period.

For many fans, the PlayStation 4 is just now getting into its groove in terms of quality games that are available in the library. While the past two years saw large releases with ‘Uncharted 4’ and ‘Bloodborne’ fans have always wanted more. In 2017 alone the PS4 has had home-runs with a slew of amazing titles including ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’, ‘Persona 5’ and more. If fans are excited about what Sony is doing in 2017 then we can only imagine what they’ll be looking at in 2018 when big-budget tentpoles like ‘God of War’ and ‘The Last of Us 2’ hit the shelves.

Ultimately the reason that fans keep lining up for the PlayStation 4 is simple: Sony has mastered the art of offering a diverse library of titles. While Nintendo has, for a long time, been beholden to family-oriented titles Sony has continued to push the limits on what they offer. Sony’s ability to blend playable games with more difficult, adult-oriented experiences has been a continual boon for the company. For an analysis on just how well Sony is selling their newer titles you can pay close attention to this year’s Black Friday figures. In any event, Sony looks well-positioned to continue their ride as one of the top gaming consoles int he world.

Video games have been an ever changing and diversifying medium of art for the past several decades. From the early arcades of the 70’s and 80’s to the more modern, home consoles, there have been many different systems put in place to get people to play games. In recent years however, the increasing cost of production of games has made developers look for alternative methods of revenue to supplement a game long after release.

No longer can a studio pump out a complete game, and start work on a sequel or a new franchise. To justify and offset some of this content, there has been an increase in the use of lootbox mechanics, almost akin to scratch off lottery tickets. At the beginning of the lootbox movement, most gamers didn’t seem to mind spending an extra few dollars for added content or a chance to get fancy or rare in game “prizes.” However, it seems as developers took note of this trend, they started to pack more and more content behind these artificial paywalls. Many casual and professional gamers say this model as becoming a pay-to-win method and something that could endanger the community and video games as a whole.

The entire debate of loot boxes recently came to ahead with the release of the public beta of Star Wars Battlefront 2. Some saw the way loot boxes were handled so egregiously that they started a petition for the government to investigate whether or not loot boxes could be considered gambling. In the case of the Battlefront 2 beta, it seemed almost any item or ability a player would need to succeed was locked behind a paywall. Someone with an unlimited supply or more money could easily purchase more loot boxes and use the system to ruin the game and beat a player who plays the game without ever buying any. Thankfully EA, the game’s publisher, say the backlash and responded by completely overhauling the system. In his article, Jeff Grubb details some of the changes.

While not necessarily a sign of the future, the free market seems to be quickly and quietly correcting the abundant use of loot boxes in video games. Hopefully down the road, more content will be available from the get go and not locked behind pay-to-win style randomness.

The widely popular video game “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” will finally be making an appearance on the Xbox One console later this year. It will be released as part of the Xbox Game Preview program on December 12, which will allow video game fans everywhere a chance to buy and play the game while it is still being tweaked by the developers.

“PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” was released in a similar fashion for Microsoft Windows computers through Stream, and it quickly became one of the most popular video games in the world. Steam has claimed that more than two million people play the game on their PC every day, and it has also sold a total of 18 million copies since its early release in March. The developers have finally perfected the PC version of the game, so they can now shift their focus to the upcoming Xbox One release.

While the goal is to make the two versions of the game identical, that will not be possible when the Xbox One version launches on December 12. The console version of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” will initially lack some of the features and maps of the PC version. The goal is to make the both versions identical, but that may take a few months to achieve.

It is safe to say that most people that own an Xbox One are not going to complain about playing the unfinished game in December. The exciting battle royal gameplay of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlgrounds” has made it one of the biggest phenomenons in the video game community this year, but a large percentage of gamers have not got to experience it yet because they do not own a personal computer equipped for gaming.

“PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” will cost $29.99 when it hits the Xbox Game Preview program in December. Microsoft currently has exclusive rights to the game, so there are no plans to release it on the PS4 in the near future.

Anyone who fancies himself an adventurous monster hunter and longs to turn his trophies into armor and weapons should definitely invest in “Monster Hunter World.” While it is latest Monster Hunter title, World is the first to have a global released. Capcom really wants Westerners to get a taste for this franchise, which has been a domestically profitable franchise for over a decade. Unfortunately, previous efforts to introduce Monster Hunter outside Japan have mostly failed. While the West has a niche community of MH fanatics, they are sadly a minority population Capcom would like to see grow in numbers.

While Capcom’s dreams are big, it seems like World is their best shot at drawing in new fans. Series veterans will recognize all of the elements that make a game uniquely Monster Hunter, even when the presentation is delivered in a drastically different, more easily conveyed package.

While Monster Hunter’s roots can be traced back to the PS2, it only gained a following once it transitioned to the PSP. Monster Hunter captured elements of the MMO genre, where cooperative gameplay and social interaction can lead to greater success, but only on hardware designed to play games on the go. Other than a brief stint on Nintendo’s Wii console, the main series has mostly stayed put on the 3DS; a measure that has done much to bolster Western interest in the series. World’s intended release platforms (the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC) would seem to indicate Capcom will push online play, a feature of previous installments usually left to people unable to play multiplayer locally.

Series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, the man responsible for the Wii and PSP games, feels that the push for Monster Hunter titles on PC and a return to consoles will do a world of good in raising Western awareness of Monster Hunter. Monster Hunter World will hit the PS4 and Xbox One on January 26th, with a PC release in the future.

For decades we have seen gamers gather around their television in order to beat their friends in heated competition. From racing games to first-person shooters, and everything in between, gamers love the joy of a challenge. With the rise of online streaming websites it has also been realized that gamers love to watch other people, well, play games. This has created the perfect environment for professional video gaming to flourish and now it looks like the e-sport is becoming a major competitive phenomenon. The question now begs to be asked, does professional video gaming have a future as bright as that of prominent major league sports like football or basketball?

Right now the future for professional gaming looks exceptionally bright and the financials behind it are echoing that assumption. This year ESports, the common vernacular for competitive gaming, is expected to reach the $700 million global earning threshold. The most popular competitive game is League of Legends but there are a ton of different games being played every single day. Fans are learning the names of their favorite players and they are traveling in order to watch them compete on stage in packed arenas and stadiums around the world.

Esports has gotten to such a huge point that there is very real talk of including it as an Olympic event in the Asian Games that are coming in 2018. Ben Lenihan, the President of New Zealand’s ESport federation, believes that Esports have grown to be larger than the NFL around the globe. Lenihan says, “It could be a flash in the pan, but I doubt it.” Professional video game competitors are also starting to realize that their work may soon be respected like that of a professional athlete or a top-tier earner in the entertainment industry at some point in the future. The potential is there for gamers to really see their work come to fruition as something that their parents could never have imagined even five years ago.

A new trailer has been released for Spider-Man PS4, and it seems to promise a very cinematic take on the franchise.

The trailer was released at Paris Games Week 2017 and focused largely on the game’s plot, unlike the previous trailers that have been released.

Lasting just over two minutes, the trailer begins with Peter Parker talking to Mary Jane after having recently put Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, behind bars, and his hope that this will allow him to spend more time in his civilian identity. However, we soon get a medley of scenes that demonstrate how unlikely that is to happen, as we see Norman Osborn running for mayor, people shooting each other, Mary Jane investigating some sort of secret information and battles with Mister Negative (also known as Martin Li), who has been confirmed to be the main villain.

And of course, any Spidey trailer should end with a quip: “Whew! Anybody else need a breather?”

The trailer also confirms the involvement of the villain Shocker, as well as Miles Morales, a popular character who is the second Spider-Man. (He replaced the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Universe when he died, but now co-exists with the main Peter in the main Marvel Universe. Comics are confusing, aren’t they?) It is unclear if Miles will become a superhero in the game, however.

Spider-Man PS4 is being made as a joint venture of Marvel Games, which is licensing the property, and Sony Interactive Entertainment, which is publishing and funding the game. Insomniac Games is actually developing the story, however. This is the first in a series of Sony/Insomniac team-ups to develop Marvel Comics properties.

As its name suggests, the game will only be available on the PS4, as presumably will the others in the planned series. There is not yet a firm release date, though the trailer ends by saying that it will come out sometime in 2018.

The Mario franchise continues to wreck havoc even after all these years. It’s been a generation since Mario first graced a video game screen. And now, in 2017, he is dominating another platform.

Super Mario Odyssey is the latest smash hit game released for the Nintendo Switch gaming console. According to Forbes, the game was such an immediate success on the new-ish device that a quarter of all Switch users purchased it within the first three days of the game’s release. In less than a week, it is on pace to easily surpass The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as the biggest game ever for the Switch.

That, on its own, isn’t a huge surprise. Breath of the Wild was the first main release for the console. As the Switch becomes more prevalent in the market, newer games are bound to sell more. However, Super Mario Odyssey has something else going for it. It is one of the best reviewed games of the year.

The thought behind the game is fresh and enticing, though with a hint of nostalgia. Gamers travel the world as Mario, collecting trinkets, taking photos, and searching for hidden secrets in the places they visit. The open world aspect reminds people of Super Mario 64 from the old Nintendo 64. The freedom of exploration really opens up what players have come to expect from a Mario game.

After venturing around, part of the fun of Odyssey is involved in what one does with his or her discoveries. Players are allowed to decorate their ship to represent the places they have visited. They are also encouraged to take and capture the very best Mario photos and share them on social media with other players.

The Mario character continues to succeed because of the innovations surrounding his game play. From Cart to Party, Odyssey is the latest installment in a franchise that keeps improving.

It wasn’t long ago that video games were thought of as nothing more than little computerized trinkets that could supply games in simple formats, and it took quite some time for the video game industry to reach the point it has grown to today. Foundational games of the past had to exist in order to lead to the games of the future, and those games are finally starting to reach the hands of players who have waited for them since childhood. It won’t be long before the dream of a fully realized virtual reality will enter the gaming world.

In a sense, all video games have been virtual reality to a certain degree. The only real difference between those virtual realities and the ones of the future is the perspective from which the player interacts with them. Super Mario started as a simple 2D game where the player controlled the character through a third-person perspective, but the goal is to eventually create a way to have the player enter the game world so they can play from a first-person perspective. While the VR systems of today are starting to get quite a bit more advanced, there is still a long way to go before humanity has the ability to completely replicate the experience of reality. Like something out of The Matrix, a near-perfect virtual world could be the future.

The beginning of the transition to a world that focuses on virtual experience is already here. A full arcade of VR games exists in Hong Kong, and it is only a matter of time before other major cities start to follow suit. The popularity of augmented reality games like Pokemon Go has already proven that the world is ready to see these sorts of virtual technologies incorporated into their entertainment and daily lives.